RUSSIA LAGS ON NEW ENERGY

Renewable energy in Russia… wind energy (in Russia’s South and Northeast, as well as the Far East) and biomass energy (in Russia’s South, predominantly)...
Ksenia Vakhrusheva (translated by Maria Kaminskaya), January 16, 2011 (Regulacion Eolica con Vehiculos Electricos)

"...[I]n January to September 2010, the share of energy production based on renewable energy sources (excluding hydropower) grew from two percent to three percent in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member nations, compared to the same period of 2009 – just as the share of nuclear energy dropped one percentage point, sliding from 22 percent to 21 percent...[F]ossil fuels and hydropower retained their positions...with shares of 62 percent and 14 percent...

"Leading the race for power production from renewable sources in 2010 was Iceland (with around 25 percent of total energy derived...geothermal energy); Denmark (20.6 percent, with [principally] wind power...); Portugal (18 percent...[mostly] wave, solar power, and wind energy); Spain (17.7 percent, wind energy being...[principal]); and New Zealand (15.1 percent, from, predominantly, geothermal energy and wind power)...Of [non-OECD] countries...the Vatican, China, and India were leading in investments into the renewables in 2010..."

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"In Russia, renewable energy did not make big strides in 2010...[S]maller-scale projects started appearing...[A]lternative energy in Russia’s energy market remained...[at] one percent. The Russian energy strategy aims to increase that share to 4.5 percent by 2020...[Promoting it] has been set by the Russian government – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stressed repeatedly the importance of developing alternative energy sources...[but] statements showing a less than unequivocal endorsement of renewable energy policies...were made by] Russia’s prime minister, Vladimir Putin...Upgrading the Russian law to provide a stable regulatory framework for the development of renewable energy is a slow process beset by many challenges. Yet, 2010 saw a number of successes...[but] no tangible practical support is given by the federal authorities...

"RusHydro, which the Russian government charged with the responsibility to develop the country’s renewables sector...is so far coming up short with funds of its own...There are, to date, only four such projects...[1] a 2.5-megawatt binary cycle power unit at Pauzhetka Geothermal Power Plant...[2] increasing the installed capacity of Pauzhetka Geothermal Power Plant to 13 megawatts through heat recovery...[3] a 12-megawatt tidal power plant in Murmansk Region...[and, 4] the Far Eastern Wind Power Station in the Far Eastern region of Primorye, a site with a capacity of
36 megawatts..."

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"...One of the more positive results of 2010 for Russia...[is] the launch of IFC plans to bring to fruition no fewer than 30 pilot projects, to a combined power production capacity of 205 megawatts, within the next five years. The overall amount of investments is to total $366 million...[$150 million] from the IFC. The programme looks at wind energy (in Russia’s South and Northeast, as well as the Far East) and biomass energy (in Russia’s South, predominantly) as its priority development areas...[It] will take $50 billion in investments for Russia to realise its goal of increasing by 2020 the share of renewable energy to 4.5 percent of the total energy economy...

"...[A]n additional $10 million [must go] toward fostering a beneficial investment climate...[rather than] skirting the market of green power generation...[and going to] energy-generating equipment or alternative energy sources such as fuel pellets...[because of] the indifference on the part of most of [fossil fuel-rich] Russia’s energy consumers...Before Russia is even ready to make the leap to a greener energy economy, the very concept of energy efficiency has to take root in Russian minds – and workable energy saving solutions created in their homes...Russia, indeed, may have a very long way to go before it fully harvests the energy potential of the sun, wind energy, biomass, and hydroresources so richly available in this vast country."